In Response to Re: July Infants and Toddlers : Med, I know it was probably very real and stressful at the time, but this made me giggle. The number of times my poor husband has done something sweet when I've been stressed out and I've lashed back at him with something like this! I am picturing your husband, venturing tentatively into foreign territory (card aisle) on his quest, offering the prize from his mission to CVS along with diapers, colace, desitin, and maybe some tucks hemmorhoid pads, proud of his thoughtfulness, being absolutely gobsmacked by your tears.Posted by lissafro

Thinking about it now makes me laugh, too! Also, your depiction of DH in CVS made me laugh again as well. It's totally true!

Hope everyone with sick and/or cranky little ones is doing better!I feel like DD has had a cough for a couple of weeks and I don't get it. She never had other bad cold symptoms, and at one point I took her to the doctor and her lungs and ears were just fine. Yet I'll hear her coughing in the middle of the night, plus going down to sleep and when she wakes up. And she also has been waking us up during the night more than usual.I'm wondering if it might actually be due to drool from teething. She is getting her two year molars, and she doesn't drool *out* when teething, she drools and swallows. I can hear her swallowing a ton, and also noticed she is mumbling a little bit. Mystery.

Sorry to hear about all the colds/sickness. DS was so fussy today I am hoping he doesn't get sick. Or hoping that if he does he gets sick now and not before we leave for Ireland.

Question for all you toddler mamas out there. Whining: HOW DO YOU DEAL???! The pedi did give me advice at his 15mon appt. saying that for example if he whines to go outside, then you don't bring him out then you reward him when he is being good and bring him out. This is a hard age b/c he whines to get something and can't tell us yet. He is a good pointer and he signs more and I just taught him the sign for please. So what I have been doing when he whines for food or something I'll say, oh you want more blueberries? Say more blueberries please and sign more and please. He learned the sign quickly and will sign please and not whine at that point, then I'll give them to him. He seems to whine a lot and now that I have been noticing it more I hope that I didn't foster it when he was younger by giving in to what he was whining for. I also have tried re-direction which I do when he does something that he is not supposed to. Not sure what else I can do, but I sure don't want a whiny kid. As a K teacher I can tell you there is nothing worse than a whiny 5yo...

ajuly-it's soooo hard at 15 moths! They don't have the langugage. We ignore in our house. it's hard, but DS totally gets it now and will stop, take a deep breath then use his words for what he wants. If he asks nicely we comply (and it's within in reason). So I think when your DS signs more, even in the midst of whining, or right on the tails, you're fine. But 15 mo was way to early for DS to get the whole "mommy doesn't hear you when you whine" line.

DD has been bitten twice today at day care...ugh. My kids seem to get bitten all the time-thankfully (knock on wood) they haven't turned into biters themselves.

Med-have they thought about asthma or Reactive Airway for your DD? some of the symptoms sound like asthma...(cought at night/AM) could be teething too.

Kam - thanks for the idea. I looked it up and will ask her doctor at her 2 year old physical next week. No signs of whistling/wheezing, or labored breathing, but I will keep my eye on it until then. Does asthma show up when they listen to the chest/back? I am reading about it online but it's not clear to me.She has also recently developed eczema much more than ever before, so now I'm wondering if that and the cough could be related to a food intolerance.

Sorry about your DD getting bitten! I hope she's not really hurting. I had to laugh last week when my DD got pushed down. The daycare tells us of the incident but not who did the pushing (which I think is good and important), but now my DD has stymied them by telling me exactly who pushed her "outta da way"! Too cute.

Now that he knows the sign for please you can refuse to give him something if he whines and give it to him if he asks with the sign for please. It's hard, but if he has the skills and understands how to use them, you can make sure he gets the message that when he asks nicely he gets what he wants and when he doesn't he doesn't.

ajuly- we did a mix of the above- DS had a lot of sign, but not a lot of words. so i would tell him I didn't understand what he wanted when he whined, that he had to tell me or show me. usually then he was fine- it seemed like the whining was to get me to orient, because if he just signed, I didn't "hear" him.

now, he gets an immediate "no, because you are whining." at 23 months it seems more appropriate.

aJuly - DD went through a similar phase and luckily it was short-lived. I would always say "use your words" even though she had few. :)

Kar - I think that often when a child is just learning words it takes awhile for them to completely incorporate them and understand their meaning. I have found this time and again with DD. She started saying please but it took her a couple of weeks for fully implement the word corrently and often so I do think they need a little slack in the beginning - particularly as early as 15 months. I do think asking them to say please is always important but as far as insisting the real little ones may need a little more time. Of course at this point, when DD is well-versed in the proper use, I would hold out until I heard a please.

med-it will show up if the child is actively having an attack or flare-up. Both of my kids have it. Took them a while to diagnose with DS, but I have asthma and he was constantly getting sick and not being able to shake the cough for weeks. A few rounds with bronchiolitis and they finally started him on meds. Now, at 3.5 he's on two different daily meds to control it-and his is mild.

I know to step up the meds when there is coughing at night-even when asleep, and in the AM. If he is active and starts coughing those are other signs. He's not a big wheezer.

They were much quicker to diagnose DD, she started one daily med around 6 months old-after two boughts of bronchiolitis and one pneumonia.

Your daughter may only be suffering from droll from teething. But if it's been going on weeks I'd ask the question. Does she normally get over colds easily? There is an ezcema and asthma connection-not sure how strong it is though.

I think DD's belly button (stub still attached) my be getting infected. It is green and oozing a little bit and I noticed a bit of an odor. We have a pedi appt. on Friday, but has this happened to anyone else? We haven't bathed her yet (gross, I know), but I really want to wait until it falls off completely.

ETA: bringing DD to pedi tonight, they said something about cutting it off...poor baby :(

Liz - hope it's better! I really think air is the best medicine for the belly button in general, but obviously the pedi will advise if it's having any infection.

KAM - thanks for the insight. I haven't noticed any coughing after running around, but I'm going to keep a careful log over the next week of when I hear her coughing and whether or not there is any phlegmy sound. She has definitely had lots of colds this winter (and lots of ear infections) but in our many trips to the doctor they haven't mentioned asthma (or pneumonia or bronchiolitis) and her lungs have always sounded OK when we're in the office. The word "asthma" makes me nervous, so it's great to hear your experience.

Lil, absolutely, I agree. I should have called greater attention to that conditional of if he has total understanding of the politeness system of getting stuff. I love the iPad, but I can't add italics or bold because it can't do flash, and I did wish I could have bolded the "if," in "if he has the skills..." so, thanks for saying something. I also can't post photos...but, I digress, lol.

Liz - the umbilical stump is essentially dead tissue so it is very common to have an odor and some oozing. It is concerning if there is redness in the skin surrounding the umbilical stump. Better to be safe and go in, though. You are right about waiting to bath until the stump falls off.

Liz- Glad to hear that you are doing better! Go to the wedding and have FUN!

AFM - DS is 3 weeks old on Thurs. and he is eating like a champ. I am BFing and just tried pumping for the first time tonight and nothing came out! Then DS wanted to eat a couple of hours later and Im not sure he got anything. Is it better to pump in the morning or at night? I have to go back to work at the beginning of Oct and want to have a stock pile of BM. Speaking of going back to work, I am having major aniexty about having to leave DS to go to work. I dont want to go back at all but unfortunately I dont have a choice. I am really sore still from the c-section. When will the pain start to go away? I also have pain to the left of my incision which is wierd? It feels like it is bruised. Anyone else feel this pain?

Speaking of biting, DS bites me. Never has done it to someone other than DH or I. If he gets frustrated or even excited. I guess it's good he's not in daycare, I'm sure he would be "that" kid. Ugh.

DS has no idea what please means at this age, it's just another word or sign that he associates with getting someting. So if he signs more or please and doesn't whine about what he wants I'll give it to him. Glad to know others went through this. Now that I know he picks up signs quickly, I think I'll teach him some new ones too.

whining: One thing that might (might!) help too is that if he really is that young and still working on communicating, he might need to be explicitly taught what the word "whining" means. yes, he will eventually learn an approximation of what it means through context but it might be more effective to TEACH him what the thing is he needs to stop doing, so he doesn't misinterpret and get frustrated (I stopped looking at that fluffy brown dog across the street, why is she still annoyed?) So you could try to whine--the tone, you know, that horrible tone, but no words because words might throw him off--and then say "NO, NO WHINING" then really nicely "more, please" while signing, then a big smile.

With older kids, reminding them you can't understand them when they are whining helps a lot. I'm not sure if it will work with a 15 month old, at least until he understands for sure what whining means.

ajuly, you can teach him tons of signs if you want - they pick those up and use them far earlier than speech because they require the gross motor skills they have instead of the fine motor skills (for forming words) that they don't quite have mastery of yet. The language center of the brain is all ready to soak up new vocabulary, and at that age signing gives them an outlet that's much easier for them than talking. As they develop the fine motor skills required to talk, they naturally start dropping the signs, and they are ahead in language usage for having had them.

Pugs, I have the same anxiety about going back to work. I'm also going back at the beginning of October, and just thinking about it gives me palpitations and makes me want to cry. Two more months just isn't enough...I truly don't know how women can handle going back at 6 or 8 weeks. We can share our fears and anxieties and the adjustment back to work!

We are dealing with horrid witching hours each evening from about 6pm to 8 or 9pm. Our calming techniques (5 S's, bouncing, rocking, quiet time, white noise) work for a few minutes each but then she starts up again. We know she gets very gassy at that time so our pedi had us try gas drops and they helped just a bit. A few weeks ago we switched to gentlease formula and dr brown bottles. Pedi said it might also be a bit of colic...words I was afraid I'd hear. Any tips or advice on how to help LO aside from what we're already doing?

Summer, hang in there. It sounds like you are doing a great job. Keep in mind that the witching hours usually pass by around 12 weeks, so you're in the thick of things now.I think I posted this before, but positions that had our LO with belly pressure really helped for us. One was having her lie across our laps so the thigh put pressure on her belly. But I really liked the "football hold". (Not to be confused with the nursing football hold!) Here's a video:http://video.about.com/babyparenting/The-Football-Hold-for-Babies.htm

The first time you try it, it feels bizarre like you won't be able to get them in that position. But after a couple of tries, it was one of the most comfortable holds for me. It really leaves your other arm free, too. I used to sit on the exercise ball with her and bounce in this position. GL! This too will pass.

Summer and pugs - I know it's hard to think about going back to work, but don't start worrying about it now! With DD I went back at 10 weeks, and I was not looking forward to it at all, but once we both got into the new routine, it was really good for both of us. Now she's almost 21 months old, and she LOVES school and her friends, and I think daycare is the best thing ever. About 18 months ago, I had a lot of feelings that I was a bad mom for "leaving" her, and kept hoping we'd hit the lottery so I could stay home, but it did pass. And it's infinitely harder on you than it is on the baby, especially when they're so young...

I say all this, but I'm sure that come late November when it's time for me to go back after #2, I'll be having all of the same feelings again.

In the meantime, try not to worry about what will happen when you go back; focus on the right now and enjoy it. :)

I will second Luv... don't spend too much time worrying about work. It is hard to think about leaving the LOs when they are so small and snugly, but soon enough they will require a lot more interaction and activity. We are currently in a super-clingy phase and quite frankly I am pretty happy to clip her into her carseat in the morning, as I get 8 whole hours of not having to carry her around.

The only thing work-related that I focused on was pumping extra milk to get a little stash going (I have ~20 4oz bags of milk in the freezer and that has been sufficient to cover the occaisional day that I don't pump enough and still have a buffer).

About 3 weeks before I went back I started evaluating my wardrobe (required some new pants, etc) and started to think through evening/morning routines. The week before I went back I did a trial run of getting up early and seeing how long it took me to pump, shower, eat, get the dogs set for the day, etc.

but for now... enjoy your time with the LO and the ability to sleep when they sleep :o) I have to say that taking a nap with DD is the one thing that I miss and still really enjoy on the weekends. Quiet time for mama is always a good thing.

Summer, sorry for the awful witching hours! Sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things. My DS was never too bad, but when he had a gassy period we used gripe water. I felt it worked better than the mylecon drops, but who knows? I second the football hold, too. When we used it on DS it often resulted in lots of burps, farts, and spitup, but all that seemed to make him feel better.
Sorry, too, about the work anxiety. Until DS was about 2 mos I was planning to go back to my old job (i quit instead!) so I know that anxiety well. I am freelancing and have a part time teaching job lined up for fall, but I'm also applying to FT positions. DH and I really need to figure out how long me working PT is viable. I actually have a second interview for a job tomorrow. It's FT and in Boston, so i have some concerns about whether I'll have the option to work from home on occasion or work am adjusted schedule to accommodate daycare/avoid traffic, etc. I also suspect they may not be offering the salary I want/need (I know, great, huh?). Though it's too late for this one, I'm wondering if I should have brought this up in the first interview. I'm either the finalist or one of a few, and though I'm not afraid to bring up these issues ( since their responses will determine if I even want the job), but I'm realizing I didn't give a lot of thought to the appropriate time and manner for doing so. How have others dealt with this when interviewing post-baby?

Ugh my time to go back to work is coming way too soon. I go back the last week of August and I tear up just thinking about it. Right now DS goes to bed fairly late (11 pm) which is too late for me while working. I am trying to move his bed time earlier and was able to get him down at 10:30 last night. I have a few weeks to get him closer to 930-10. Unfortunately for us his witching hours have been from 8-10 making going to bed earlier impossible. Also, I second the suggestion for gripe water. That has been a savior for us. We've tried the across the knees position but that makes him scream bloody murder.
At what point should we start getting him on a rough schedule? Right now (7 weeks today) everyday is different.

Pugs - you'll definitely get more if you pump in the morning/earlier part of the day. I also had c-section pain long after they said it would be gone, and my incision hurt like you're describing yours does. I can't remember how long it took to feel totally better, but it might have been a good part of the few months after the surgery. You can certainly bring it up to your doctor, but I don't think it's that unusual for it to be sore for longer than they may have told you it would be.